phinsforlife
Active Roster
Don't take this the wrong way. I loved Dan Marino as our QB. As to the question of what he actually does for the Dolphins now, which comes up a fair bit on Finheaven, if this article doesn't make it clear he is a paid PR guy for the team, I don't know what will:
"I thought we had a very good football team until we started getting injuries, especially at the end of the year," said Marino, who serves as a special adviser to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. "Tua is our quarterback, he's going to be our quarterback, but we need to find a way to just keep him healthy, especially at the end of the year when you have to win games to get in the playoffs ... That's I think where the focus is going to be."
We know how Marino played the game. I find it hard to believe that in his heart of hearts he really believes the things he is saying.
My issue is the team should be focused on winning, not keeping Tua healthy. The whole structure and design of the team, including personnel and the play calling, cannot be oriented around keeping Tua healthy. We are never going to be good that way either. Taken to its logical extreme, this means putting bubble wrap around Tua, and then having him kneel on every snap. Or devoting the entirety of the salary cap to the offense (and OL) and having nobody to play defense and special teams. It is just a silly concept.
The teams that make deep playoff runs have QBs play with reckless abandon and take a beating. They do not orient the team around keeping the QB healthy. Their playcalling exposes the QB. The way they build their teams exposes the QB as well, and they expect the QB to be able to make up the difference, that is part of why they get the salary. The QB is meant to cover roster holes, not create roster holes, which is what you are doing when you orient the team around keeping the QB healthy. Mahomes was asked to do it without a left or right tackle, and no receivers, for example.
The higher ups in Kansas City and Philadelphia don't go into the off season thinking "our entire goal this year is to keep the QB healthy and we will design the roster and all the play calling around this issue." Those teams assume the QB will be on the field, and they go about building the roster in a way that is best for the team, not the QB alone.
Below the Marino comments article, a tweet from Phil Simms from earlier in this year. His quote, more or less "It is hard to win games when it seems the objective of the team is to make one guy look good and NOT GET HIM HURT, let alone going in with a pre-conceived notion of how you play the game. You should never have to do that for the highest paid player on your team. We put you there, win, and we are going to figure out everything with everyone else. It is always an excuse for him."
This is a roadmap to mediocrity at best. So we can keep Tua healthy and go 9-8 or 10-7 and be MEH, if we are lucky, and still not be able to beat good teams or win a playoff game, and that is now the goal? Great, yup that is better than 8-9, which is what we managed this year, with Tua getting hurt. But really who cares. It is a distinction without a difference at this point.
My 2 cents, you build a football team, and let Tua play football, and let the chips fall where they may. Do it their way, they are mediocre, at best. Do it my way, sure 80%-90% likely Tua gets hurt and their record is worse. The expected value of my way is fewer wins. BUT it also gives you an upside case and a 10%-20% chance of being something more than mediocre, and actually winning a playoff game at least. The sport is football, not protect Tua ball. It cannot go on like this forever.
www.espn.com
"I thought we had a very good football team until we started getting injuries, especially at the end of the year," said Marino, who serves as a special adviser to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. "Tua is our quarterback, he's going to be our quarterback, but we need to find a way to just keep him healthy, especially at the end of the year when you have to win games to get in the playoffs ... That's I think where the focus is going to be."
We know how Marino played the game. I find it hard to believe that in his heart of hearts he really believes the things he is saying.
My issue is the team should be focused on winning, not keeping Tua healthy. The whole structure and design of the team, including personnel and the play calling, cannot be oriented around keeping Tua healthy. We are never going to be good that way either. Taken to its logical extreme, this means putting bubble wrap around Tua, and then having him kneel on every snap. Or devoting the entirety of the salary cap to the offense (and OL) and having nobody to play defense and special teams. It is just a silly concept.
The teams that make deep playoff runs have QBs play with reckless abandon and take a beating. They do not orient the team around keeping the QB healthy. Their playcalling exposes the QB. The way they build their teams exposes the QB as well, and they expect the QB to be able to make up the difference, that is part of why they get the salary. The QB is meant to cover roster holes, not create roster holes, which is what you are doing when you orient the team around keeping the QB healthy. Mahomes was asked to do it without a left or right tackle, and no receivers, for example.
The higher ups in Kansas City and Philadelphia don't go into the off season thinking "our entire goal this year is to keep the QB healthy and we will design the roster and all the play calling around this issue." Those teams assume the QB will be on the field, and they go about building the roster in a way that is best for the team, not the QB alone.
Below the Marino comments article, a tweet from Phil Simms from earlier in this year. His quote, more or less "It is hard to win games when it seems the objective of the team is to make one guy look good and NOT GET HIM HURT, let alone going in with a pre-conceived notion of how you play the game. You should never have to do that for the highest paid player on your team. We put you there, win, and we are going to figure out everything with everyone else. It is always an excuse for him."
This is a roadmap to mediocrity at best. So we can keep Tua healthy and go 9-8 or 10-7 and be MEH, if we are lucky, and still not be able to beat good teams or win a playoff game, and that is now the goal? Great, yup that is better than 8-9, which is what we managed this year, with Tua getting hurt. But really who cares. It is a distinction without a difference at this point.
My 2 cents, you build a football team, and let Tua play football, and let the chips fall where they may. Do it their way, they are mediocre, at best. Do it my way, sure 80%-90% likely Tua gets hurt and their record is worse. The expected value of my way is fewer wins. BUT it also gives you an upside case and a 10%-20% chance of being something more than mediocre, and actually winning a playoff game at least. The sport is football, not protect Tua ball. It cannot go on like this forever.
Marino: Dolphins must keep Tua healthy to win
Dan Marino threw his support behind Tua Tagovailoa, although he added that the Dolphins must find a way to keep their quarterback healthy.
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